Saudi Arabia intercept ballistic missile launched against Riyadh

A coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which fights the Huthis rebels in Yemen, reported today that it intercepted a ballistic missile launched against the Riyadh capital by the movement supported by Iran.

Two explosions were heard at dawn in the capital of Saudi Arabia, a kingdom that continues to be attacked by the Huthis.

Saudi Civil Protection reported that an early warning system was triggered to warn Riyadh residents of a possible threat.

“ Air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Huthis terrorist militia towards Riyadh,” the coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki wrote on social network X.

A drone was also intercepted and shot down in Eastern Province, had informed the spokesperson shortly before.

Since the beginning of the month, the Huthis, supported by Iran, have intensified attacks against Saudi Arabia. One of them, on October 10, reached Riyadh International Airport, and caused at least 12 deaths and 309 wounded, becoming the most deadly attack in the kingdom in years.

The Huthis have repeatedly denied Riyadh's accusations that they would have launched drones and missiles against Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer.

The Saudi kingdom intervened in the Yemeni conflict in 2015, leading an international coalition, one year after the war began, with the capture of the capital, Sanaa, by the Huthis, which control vast regions.

After a precarious four-year truce, the fighting was resumed in July, months after the start of the conflict between the United States and Iran, which plunged the entire region into a crisis.

The conflict in Yemen has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in one of the poorest countries in the world, already plagued by a large humanitarian crisis.